Eagles air it out

ANAHEIM — Estancia High football coach Mike Bargas knows that senior quarterback Connor Brown, a three-year starter, can throw the ball.

But never before has Brown put up numbers like he did in Estancia’s nonleague season opener Thursday night at Western High.

Brown passed for a career-high 335 yards and three touchdowns as Estancia romped over Loara, 37-14.

“I mean, we know he’s got a good arm and he’s a pretty smart guy,” Bargas said. “It just adds that other dimension for us.”

Brown was smart to pass the ball to senior tight end Konrad O’Daly. If there was a pro tight end to compare O’Daly to, it was Antonio Gates in his prime after O’Daly racked up eight catches for 216 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s a new featured piece in Bargas’ offense. Another new piece, junior running back Jordan Balcazar, had 24 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Brown shook off an interception at the goal line by Loara’s Isaiah Douglas on Estancia’s first series of the game. The Eagles took a 23-0 lead in the second quarter on one-yard touchdown runs by Balcazar and fullback D.J. Davis, as well as Brown’s 20-yard touchdown pass to O’Daly.

Loara, which featured aptly named scrambling quarterback Boogie Augustine, would cut its deficit to two scores just before halftime when Augustine found William Berreto on a 23-yard touchdown pass. But the hosts could not get closer in the second half.

“Our kids played really hard tonight,” said Bargas, whose Eagles got a pair of quarterback sacks by standout defensive end Jason Jones, as well as an interception each by Anthony Banos and Gabriel Marquina, the latter one coming to end Loara’s final drive. “They didn’t let up. It’s nice to go back and try to make improvements after a win. The last time we had a victory was sometime in November, so it’s really nice to come out here and play [well] defensively. Offensively, we had some breakdowns on special teams, but it’s all stuff that we can clean up.”

Brown and O’Daly would hook up twice more for touchdowns after intermission, for 61 and 53 yards, respectively.

Loara got back within two scores late in the third quarter, when Augustine found Isaiah Lobatos on an 11-yard touchdown pass. The conversion run also was successful, making the score 30-14.

It stayed that way until late in the fourth quarter, after Estancia’s Alejandro Mondragon recovered a fumble, one of four Loara turnovers on the night. The Eagles got the ball back at their own 45-yard line.

Three plays later, Brown hit O’Daly on the 53-yard touchdown. He broke a tackle at about the Loara 25-yard line and was gone.

Estancia will try to keep the momentum going when it plays at home against Pacifica on Sept. 11.

“You know, we scrimmaged Newport Harbor and did a really nice job,” Bargas said. “We had a pick and all of that stuff, and Newport scored most of theirs inside the three-yard line. It sounded like we got trampled … but we know that we have some weapons.”

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Estancia 37, Loara 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Est 8 – 15 – 7 – 7 — 37

Loa 0 – 6 – 8 – 0 — 14

FIRST QUARTER

Est – Balcazar 1 run (Davis pass from T. Brown), 2:45.

SECOND QUARTER

Est – O’Daly 20 pass from Brown (Davis run), 10:38.

Est – Davis 1 run (Moya kick), 5:28.

Loa – Berreto 22 pass from Augustine (kick failed), 1:36.

THIRD QUARTER

Est – O’Daly 61 pass from Brown (Moya kick), 5:17.

Loa – Lobatos 8 pass from Augustine (Nocella run), 2:35.

FOURTH QUARTER

Est – O’Daly 53 pass from Brown (Moya kick), 2:14.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Est – Balcazar, 24-87, 1 TD.

Loa – Augustine, 13-28.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Est – Brown, 16-22-1, 335, 3 TDs.

Loa – Augustine, 13-23-2, 147, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Est – O’Daly, 8-216, 3 TDs.

Loa – Berreto, 5-75, 1 TD.